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New York Giants’ Walter Thurmond III on Calvin Johnson: He Has Some Weaknesses

September 3rd, 2014 at 5:00 PM By Dan Benton

The New York Giants secondary certainly is a confident bunch. It's something that came as a bit of a surprise to linebacker Jameel McClain, who said after the team's preseason finale against the New England Patriots that the group had "plenty of swagger" dating back to Organized Team Activities (OTAs). And that "swagger" is something that was displayed again on Wednesday as cornerback Walter Thurmond III, much like Prince Amukamara before him, didn't shy away from questions about Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson.

"Everyone knows he's a talented guy, you know, but being a big receiver, he has some weaknesses for sure," Thurmond told The Star-Ledger. "Being able to get in and out of his cuts and breaks and stuff. Of course, he's good with yards after the catch and jump balls, but there is no perfect receiver. Everyone has some weaknesses and it's about understanding what those weaknesses are, watching film and exposing them."

While Thurmond's statement is very much a reality — as it would be for any receiver in the league — it's most certainly a comment that will be taken as a slight from Johnson and his Lions teammates.

"It's going to be a lot of fun. We owe something to the Giants. They knocked us out of the playoffs last year. We look forward to the opportunity of returning the favor and spoiling the beginning of their season," Suh said.

If nothing else, the Monday Night Football matchup between the Giants and Lions will have no shortage of confident defenders.

Wanted to repost this in the Gruden thread. Work keeps cutting into my day. At any rate……..It’s not that the WR’s are not talented or modestly so. They are not suited for this type of offense. They are a play action group. Cruz can adapt, and Jernigan according to his scouting report is a natural for this. But the rest are not explosive first step players.

rlhjr says: August 31, 2014 at 4:49 PM Its all down to the offensive line stepping up and making the run game good enough to free up the passing attack. I still maintain if Schwartz is put at RG when he returns (six weeks) the line will indeed be very strong.

I’ve also NOT seen the very trademark of an “Left Coast” offense. That is the quick slant or out or bubble screen designed to get skill people out in space. Sans Beckum I’m not sure the club has any potential receivers able to flourish in that role with the exception of Jennings. Jernigan is SUPPOSED to be the explosive type of receiver that thrives in the West Coast. So why is he not running those type of patterns/plays? I guess they want to practice that in the regular season.

I suspect Beckum will (damn well better) be the explosive type. But due to the time he’s missed, that will be about a month away from now.

With a healthy running game Eli may be able to take advantage of 5 step drops to get the ball down field. Seven step deep pattern pass plays with suspect left tackle and youngsters at guard is not highly recommended. Especially if you want to keep your QB healthy and playing throughout the season. However, five step intermediate routes, is where Cruz should shine and maybe Randle.

Jim Stoll made a remark about how Coughlin would look silly not utilizing Washington in three receiver sets. I’ll say this much, this kid seems to have the gift of separation. Then his height and hands take over. If Washington is not inserted in the game after crossing the 30 and goal line situations, something is very wrong. He might be young Tom, but right now he’s all you FN got. Don’t be stupid.

As for the tight ends, Donnell is not a total loss. But like the others he could be easily mistaken for one.

Ten things that will guarantee the New York Football Giants to a wining season:

1. JPP was practicing only bull rush in pre season to insure his back was sound. 2. Jernigan has a college flashback and recognizes he’s in a West Coast offense. 3. Fewell suddenly realizes that ANY defensive player is allowed to blitz. 4. Eli executes screen passes with touch. 5. Offensive line athletic enough to get in front of a screen play. 6. Williams is allowed to spell Jennings prior to week 15 7. Washington is allowed to see the field prior to 2015. 8. First two defenders off the bench on third and long are Moore and Kennard. 9. Coughlin suddenly realizes Eli is good in “hurry up” offense. 10. Giants average 4.5 yards per carry despite Beatty.

I don’t think Thurmond really said anything wrong, but there really was no point for saying what he did. Everyone knows Megatron is the best WR in football and, while no player is perfect, stating the obvious like this won’t benefit the defensive backs one bit. It just adds more fuel to the fire for the Lions who want revenge for last season. Amukamara showed last year that it is possible to stop Megatron, as have a few other CBs in the league, but it’s very rare because he is so good. I guess the Giants were just trying to pump themselves up and reinforce their confidence/swagger, whatever you want to call it, but at the end of the day you let your play on the field do the talking, and there’s a very high chance that Megatron is going to embarrass some CBs on Monday night…weaknesses and all.